Top-comb motion.



F. L. CROEKETT.

TOP COMB MOTION.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.I2,1916- 1|. ,221,839., I Patented Apr. 10, 1917.

iii era FRANK L. CROGKETT, OF NORTH UXBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 VII-IITIN MACHINE WORKS, OF WHITINSVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSA- TOP-COMB MOTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 10, 1917.

Application filed August 12, 1916. Serial No. 114,501.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK L. CRooKnT'r, a citizen of the United States, residing in North Uxbridge, Massachusetts, have invented the following-described Improvements in Top-Comb Motions.

The invention concerns the operation of combing machines of the kind employing top combs which are depressed into engagement with the tuft and more especially those which are quickly depressed to a full penetration into the tuft. This invention is more specifically an improvement in the top comb motion disclosed in the prior application of i. M. Whitin, filed February 1%, 1914, Serial No. 818,616. As illustrated in the drawings of that application, all the top comb arms of a multi-head comber are carried on a single longitudinal shaft, known as the top comb shaft, and lifted from the path of the tuft by a cam arm applied to one end of said shaft engaged and lifted by a rotary cam disk. When the arm rides off the abrupt shoulder of the cam, it, and all the top comb arms are caused to drop quickly to their lowest position, the cam arm striking the bottom of the cam notch and the top combs striking their several abutments all at about the same instant. Such quick descent of the top combs, occurring at the appropriate point in the combing cycle, produces numerous advantages fully explained in the said application and now availed of very generally in commercial practice. The quickness of the descent is important, but is not attained without a considerable vibration in the machine, arising from the contact with the several abutments, and there is also a tendency to torsional strains in the comb shaft, due to its length and the load on it, which gives rise to a tendency to rebound at the lowest position and which has heretofore been attempted to be counteracted by a counter-weight applied to the far end of the shaft. The present invention provides the means for eliminating the serious vibration and also the need for the counter-weight and also greatly improves the general action of the motion, permitting higher speeds with satisfactory operation. It consists in the application to the comb shaft of an elastic or yielding shaft coupling, preferably interposed between the end of the shaft that is operated by the quick. descent mechan m and. usually n the drive head of the machine, and the series of top comb arms which, as will be understood, are distributed along the length of the top comb shaft. The particular style of coupling is believed to be not important, provided it possesses the requisite elasticity, and the one which is preferred and shown herein is old and well-known in principle. Its effect is believed to be accomplished by virtue of its localization of the point of greatest torsion, which tends to eliminate torsional vibration elsewhere throughout the length of the shaft, and at the same time by the accommodation it afiords to the cam and top comb arms with respect to the time of their engagement with their respective abutments.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is an end view of the top comb shaft showing the quick descent mechanism and the top comb arms in elevation and the adjacent part of the framework of a Heilman type comber;

Fig. 2 is a portion of the same type of machine in top plan showing the location of the elastic coupling, and

Fig. 3 is a larger scale axial section of the preferred coupling.

The top comb shaft 1 will be understood to be jqurnaled in the several frame uprights 2, and to extend through all of the eight or more combing heads of the machine, carrying a pair of top comb arms 3 for each head, extending forwardly therefrom and carrying the top combs 4 at their extreme forward ends. Each arm has a lateral finger carrying an abutment screw 5, which engages one of the fixed abutments 6 to limit the descent of the combs. The shaft is rocked in a journal bearing by the cam arm 7, which rests by its wear-piece 8 upon the edge of the disk cam 9, the latter being fa st on the comb cylinder shaft as indicated. It will be apparent that the rotation of the cam will gradually lift the top comb arms until the passage of its abrupt shoulder 10 beneath the cam arm 7 allows all of the arms to drop, thus producing the quick depression of the top combs above referred to. However, it will be understood that this is only one means of obtaining such a depression and that other means may be employed within this invention.

The elastic coupling is applied between t e hub of the cam lever 7 a t t p om shaft and consists of two sleeve members 11 and 12, one of which (11) is firmly setscrewed to the shaft, and the other (12) is free to turn slightly thereon, being formed for convenience as the hub of the arm 7 and slit as shown, and provided with a clamp bolt 13 whereby it may be set to turn snugly on the shaft without lost motion. Each member 12 and 11 is bored and counter-bored at intervals around their common axis and parallel with such axis, and a series of spring steel pins 14 are driven into the registering holes, thereby connecting the two sleeves with each other and by means of an. annular series of spring members which permit resilience between the lever and the shaft in an angular or torsional direction. The flexing of the spring members is accommodated by the clearances provided by the counter-bored portions 1%? of the holes in the members, such portions being, as shown in Fig. 3, at the proximate ends of the holes. The dimensions and number of these spring pins are subject to variation according to 1. A top comb motion for combing machines, comprising the combination of the top comb shaft carrying the top combs thereon and means for oscillating said shaft, of an elastic coupling between said means and the top comb.

2. A top comb motion for combing niachines, comprising in combination with the top comb shaft having the top combs thereon and quick depression mechanism for said combs, of an elastic shaft coupling between said mechanism and the top combs.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification. I

FRANK L. CROCKETT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

